Deodorant (her brand, of course!)
A new toothbrush (get two if you plan on stealing it)
A box of Jelly Belly jelly beans
Every girl loves candy bracelets and necklaces!
I love teeny little indulgences that I seldom or never buy for myself: single packages of candies or cookies, tiny cute nail polishes, hair accessories, that sort of thing. And this time of year, really good lip balms and hand creams are great. A love note would be treasured.
A chocolate orange at the toe! (CAUTION! Do not light Fire in fireplace!)
When I was doing stockings for adults, I’d include tangerines and pecans/walnuts in the shell.
A ball of string and a miniature torch…both absolutely useless until that ONE time you desperately need them. Oh, and a magnifying glass too.
So many good ideas above, but here are a few things I’d be pleased to find in my stocking that I don’t think have been mentioned yet (apologies if I’m repeating anything - I’m reading in substandard lighting conditions):
A 2012 calendar small enough to keep in my purse
A book of Sudoko puzzles
Exotic flavors of breath mints (preferably sugarless)
An unusual kitchen tool (a mini spatula, funny cookie cutter shape, etc.)
Individual tissue packs in fun colors or with cute designs
They are a little expensive, but so much worth the price…Buckeyballs!
My mom gave some to my husband and I for our wedding anniversary (because my mom is just that kind of person!) and since then several in-laws, friends and random acquaintances have purchased some. They are so much fun to play with!
Also because this is how my mom thinks: ever since we were kids, our Christmas stockings included a couple of pairs of colourful socks and some new underwear, usually with fun patterns.
For some reason, we never ate the oranges, so somewhere along the line my mom changed it up for bizarre seasonal fruit for my sister and I and a salami for my brother (and, now, my husband and brother-in-law). You’d think there would be a hilarious story behind this, but, no, it’s really just something random she started to replace the oranges.
I hate to say this, but I think you should end the tradition. At least for awhile. Why not suggest a new tradition to your wife. If you don’t like it, you can always go back.
How about a mini-calendar?
A jump rope?
Gloves?
If you have a Trader Joe’s near you, they have great stocking stuffer type candies. Also Think Geek is great for stocking stuffer type uh, stuff.
A few times we’ve had a quick “Do you still want to do stockings this year?” conversation, and the answer is always yes. Even if there are no surprises in there, we open the stockings over a bottle of champagne and enjoy the ritual. “Stale” may have been too strong a word; it’s still a fun thing for us, but I want to shake it up a little this year.
In case anyone’s keeping track, here’s what I have so far:
- Sudoku Book
- Nora Roberts novel
- Package of assorted color gel pens
- Bag of Ghirardelli mint dark chocolate squares
- Burt’s Bees lip balm/cuticle cream 2-pack (Last night I found this in Staples, of all places, and remembered Sattua’s idea)
And thanks to all of you, I have a bunch of other fun stuff to look for! I appreciate everybody’s input and I hope other people are getting help from this thread as well!
What about special champagne flutes for Christmas morning? put one in the top of each stocking.
Old fashioned candies, exotic spices HomePage | Penzeys
Sample size packs of exotics dried fruits and yummy spiced nuts: http://www.nutsonline.com/search?q=sample+packs
Good luck!
What about a money box? This might not work for you but I have a money box and put all my gold coins into it at the end of the day. When it’s full I spend it on something frivolous.
****Put in a tin of cinnamon, because you want to spice things up a bit. 
Go find a candy or gum that she would remember from childhood. This year, I walked into a fancy food emporium and found tiny maple sugar candies. Perfectly sized for stuffing stockings.
Drug stores are great for trinket-y stuff and, if one is around, you can always rely on Spencer Gifts.
Target always has a supply of Hello Kitty crap, like fake fingernails or sparkly eye shadow. Even better, Target carries Hello Kitty duct tape along with a couple of other patterns (Duck brand).
Every woman needs her own tape measure. One of mine has a flower pattern on it so no guy will walk off with it. How about a letter opener, mini stapler or other desk item. Funky ink color pens are good too. Go to Office Max, Staples or JoAnne and take a look around.
Vibrators. They’re the gift that keeps on giving. And you’re already drinking champagne, no reason not to make the morning extra merry. ::waggles eyebrows ::
A pack of those tiny Moleskine notebooks for her purse. They’re the shit for making notes or lists or doodling while you’re out and about.
Also any properly filled stocking has at minimum these things in it : an orange and one other piece of fruit, some nuts, some candy, and some sort of toy.
Edible hibiscus flowers:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/caffeine/wacky-edibles/c0ce/
Add to the champagne.
A bunch of glowsticks!
A subscription to Birchbox with a note that you’ve decided to give her 12 stocking stuffers for the coming year.
Some years ago, I gave my father a magnetic sculpture toy, called a crdl, which was much the same thing. Everyone who came over played with that thing. That was probably my most cost-effective gift ever.
OPI nail polish is the number one thing I want in my stocking this year (that I won’t get… my husband is impervious to hints.) If you don’t know what colors to get, first look at her current stash, then at her most commonly-worn outfits for ideas. I’m not much for nail polish most of the time, but I prefer the good stuff when I do use it.
For my husband’s stocking this year, I have a couple of Groupons that I’m going to print out, then fold into Christmas-themed origami.
Edited to add: try some nice tea, and maybe some of those interlocking shape puzzle things?